Fitness tips
Carve out the time and remember quality over quantity! For me that’s 20–40 minutes (depending on what session I’m going to do).
Tell someone about your planned workout – this makes you feel accountable. Derval.ie members also use my private Facebook group for this; if you tell someone, you’re less likely to make an excuse.
Don’t over-complicate it – you don’t need fancy home equipment for a good workout; there are plenty of brilliant exercises you can do by yourself with just a little space.
Allowing your body to recover after workouts is key. Now that we may have more time on our hands to exercise, it’s important not to over-do it.
Digital detox: Try to minimise how much you watch fitness influencers accounts because when trying to get moving again often their representation of fitness is not something you’ll relate to.
Refuel after fitness. Get real food in as fast as you can after you train, try not to depend on processed bars and supplements for this. Real food is your friend. A plain chicken sandwich is a great option.
that they’re eating in a way that they don’t want to be eating. They’re definitely comfort eating and snacking a lot.’
Derval can certainly relate. ‘I mean, I’ve struggled with snacking and eating sh**e. I’ve had to do something to make sure I didn’t become 90 per cent chocolate.’
She is clearly reading the room well: in recent weeks alone, the Derval.ie content on snacking, emotional eating and making quick and easy dinners have amassed tens of thousands of hits. And now, her four-week Summer Strong workout offers members suggestions on how to make lifestyle tweaks. ‘They’re only suggestions, and not “here’s what you have to do”,’ notes Derval. ‘It’s a very gentle form of encouragement.’
While the site went from strength to strength last year, Derval also found herself signed up as a coach on RTÉ’s Ireland’s Fittest Family, along with Davy Fitzgerald, Anna Geary and good pal Donncha O’Callaghan. She also does the odd spot of athletics commentating on RTÉ, more out of a love of chatting about the sport than anything.
But building a career as a media star is one of the last things on her mind.
‘I kind of just wanted to be the sort of person who finds information from different places and
‘I WANT TO INFLUENCE
PEOPLE TO JUST FEEL A BIT BETTER’
presents it to people,’ Derval says. ‘With the commentary and media things, I do a little and I enjoy it, but I’m a bit of an introvert and I like to be back in my own world and not too public. I do Ireland’s Fittest Family and for those few weeks, that I do it, I’m happy out.’
Certainly, a lucrative screen career would be Derval’s for the taking, as she remains one of Irish athletics’ biggest heroes.
After competing in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 summer Olympics, she also was the only Irish athlete to win medals at the European Athletics Championships in 2006 and 2010.
Of course, the young athletes that have cited Derval as an inspiration are having a very different Olympics experience right now. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo have been cancelled: as of now, plans for a 2021 competition still hang in the balance.
On which, Derval notes: ‘I really do hope they go ahead next year. Any athlete that is really good and has a good support structure around them will be agile enough to deal with it. There could be difficulty for some of them if the Olympics are
cancelled altogether, however. Because the Olympic cycle is once every four years, it could be that some of these athletes will never get to become an Olympian because of the pandemic, and that’s a shame. For so many people’s careers, and not just in athletics, this year is going to be a major blow. I know what it’s like to prepare for the Olympics, so I certainly feel for them.’
A new cohort of track and field stars are carrying on Derval’s stellar work on the championships front, among them newcomers like Gina Akpe-Moses, Molly Scott, Patience JumboGula and Ciara Neville.
‘It’s interesting, athletics has always been one of the sports in Ireland where women have led the way,’ observes Derval. ‘When I grew up, because Sonia O’Sullivan was so prominent in the media, I never thought that running wasn’t an option. I hope they do get their chance [to compete in the Olympics].’
For now, Derval is happy to preside over a growing online community of people looking for a positive, healthier and sensible approach to everyday life. And even with nearly 39,000 followers on Instagram, she doesn’t wear the ‘influencer’ label lightly.
‘It’s funny, I’ve a strange fascination with influencers – I feel if I went on Mastermind I could talk about influencers and the royal family – but when it comes to me, I couldn’t care less [about being one],’ she notes. ‘I think that the vast majority of influencers are amazingly innovative in terms of how they work and build a profile. I have huge respect for that.
‘I guess I want to influence people to just feel a bit better, or to do a simple circuit, or cook an easy snack. I’m pretty mindful of the stuff I put up on Instagram – even with the kids, I don’t tend to show Daphne’s face because she’s nearly five. My husband is not on my feed, because he’s not on social media and not comfortable on it.
‘But if people are going to follow me, I want them to follow me to do things. I mean, I don’t have the type of numbers that some influencers have, but the numbers don’t really matter to me. There are definitely much more important things in life right now.’
Derval O’Rourke has launched a new four-week Summer Strong Challenge in which
she will give members a daily home fitness workout, recipe and self care tip. For details on
how to subscribe, see derval.ie